Racism
by truemizzie
Summary: A fight on New Year's Eve puts two Manhattan Newsies in danger on the first day of the new year. One Shot.


"Give me 100 papes."

Jack Kelly took his papers and sat down on the porch beside the distribution office. It was just a couple of months after the strike had ended - January first, 1900.

"Hey, Jack!" Newsies were yelling to him as they walked by, papers in hand. Eventually, he got into a long winded discussion with Crutchy, a young cripple, about new selling spots they could all use. During this conversation, Racetrack Higgins sat down next to Jack and began reading his newspaper. He was on page two, when something seemed to catch his eye. He poked Jack and put his paper down in front of him, pointing to a spot on the page.

"Read this, Jack."

Jack took the paper from Racetrack and read through the page his friend had pointed out. He closed the paper.

"Mush - Boots, you guys get over here!" he called out to a pair of Newsies. They came over quickly from their spot in the line.

"What's up, Jack?" Mush asked him, a smile on his face. Mush always had his bright smile on, ready to light up any room. Still, this smile faded away when he saw Jack's serious face.

"Mush - you gotta take Boots back to the Lodging House, got it?" Jack told him, stepping down onto the ground. A couple of the other Manhattan Newsies had also gathered around, some confused, some worried.

"Jack, why?" Mush asked. Boots spoke.

"Yeah Jack! Why do we gotta go back! Today's a good sellin' day, can't ya see it?" Racetrack pulled Mush closer and put the paper in front of him. Mush skimmed it for a moment, and then saw the article the boys seemed to be worried about.

"Jack - no. This can't be right…that's impossible."

"Just take Boots back - and stay there Mush. We don't want you'se guys getting into trouble, ya hear me?" Mush looked horrified. He was about to ask a question when Kid Blink cut in.

"Hey - what am I missin'?" Racetrack automatically gave Blink his pape. He seemed to find the article almost instantly.

"Get going, Mush," Jack told his friend.

"What if somebody sees us? Then what?" Mush whispered frantically. By this time Boots was looking angry.

"Can somebody please tell me what's happenin'?" he yelled out. David Jacobs, a boy who had been sitting near Jack and had already read the paper, threw his hand over Boots' mouth. Almost every Newsie had read the article at this point, and huddled closer with every word.

"I'll go with 'em, Jack. I'll take them around a back way," Blink offered. Jack nodded and wished them luck. Mush grabbed Boots by the hand and they followed Blink. Boots still had no idea what was going on. They walked between alleys and under bridges, trying to get to the Lodging House. They were silent, except for a few angry statements made by Boots every once in a while. They were two blocks away from the House after about an hour.

The three boys stood in an alley way, and Blink poked his head out to check and see if they were safe. "Mush," he whispered, calling his friend, who came to the edge of the building while still holding Boots. A fight was going on right near the Lodging House. They couldn't see clearly what was happening, but assumed the worst.

"We'll have ta go somewhere else," Mush whispered. "I know a place," Blink told him. Another journey began. They were about to get to Blink's promised safe haven, when they saw another fight. They were surprised to see Spot Conlon near the scene. He seemed to be waiting for them.

"You'se guys better be careful," he said to them. "I'm here to tell you that you can come to Brooklyn if ya need to - if you can get across the bridge." Screams could be heard coming from the fight, and Spot left quickly. Finally, the boys found a safe spot. Medda's theatre. They waited for Medda to come down from her performance, and when she finally did, Blink was the only one to speak.

"Medda - can you do us a favor?" He asked the vaudeville star. She looked past him to the other two Newsies and nodded her head. She seemed to know exactly what was going on. She took the group to her colorful dressing room, and left for her cue back on the stage.

"I'm gonna go tell the others where you two are, okay Mush?" Blink told the boys. Mush nodded. Blink added, "We'll come get you tonight if we can, but I think Medda will let you stay the night. Just - stay here until we come, alright guys?" Mush nodded, still holding onto Boots' hand tightly. Blink left, closing the door tightly behind him.

"Alright, Mush, tell me what's goin' on here!" Boots finally said, pulling out of Mush's grip. Mush stayed silent, and Boots hit him in the arm.

"Look, Boots, you wouldn't understand," he told him, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Boots persisted, until Mush finally decided to talk to him.

"Fine…I'll tell you. I guess you have ta know this sooner or later."

Boots sat down on one of the fancier chairs in Medda's dressing room and stayed silent, waiting for Mush to talk to him.

"Boots…last night there was a fight. A white man and a black man were fighting. They was both arrested," he quieted down.

"So? If two guys were fighting, they should be arrested - that's ruinin' the peace or something, ain't it?" Boots asked. Mush smiled.

"Yeah, that's right. Only - not everybody agrees with that way of thinkin'," Mush said to him. Boots looked confused. "Look, Boots, most people think that only the Black man shoulda been arrested."

"Oh, did he start the fight?"

"That's the thing - nobody knows. But in cases like this, only the black man is ever arrested."

"Why, Mush?" Boots asked.

"Boots…you ever hear of racism?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. It's in da papes all the time! But what does that have ta do with anything?"

"It has ta do with everything, Boots. Look, there are people out there who hate us, just because we look different."

"What do you mean, 'us', Mush?" Mush rubbed his forehead.

"We ain't the same as everybody else, Boots. We're different. All of the fights we saw, they weren't for any reason but racism."

"Yeah, well, let's strike against it! We won the strike for da papes, now we just need one for racism!" Boots was happy for a moment. Excited, even. Mush's face brought him back down.

"I only wish it was that easy, Boots. Still, it'll be this way forever, for the next hundred years and after that even. I'm sorry, Boots."

"Well, it shouldn't be that way!"

"You're right - it shouldn't ever be that way."

The two boys sat on the floor of Medda's dressing room and waited. Hours of silence passed, until morning finally came. Light from outside flashed through the windows, and the boys woke up to a loud knocking on the dressing room door. Mush slowly stood up and walked over to it. He turned the handle and opened the door. A huge group of Newsies were standing there, waiting for them.

"Hey, come on you two!" Kid Blink yelled to them brightly. "There's papes to sell out there!"

Mush smiled and all of the Newsies left the theatre. Outside the sun was shining, and New York was as peaceful as it could have ever been.


End file.
